After many types of surgical procedures are performed, excess fluids must be drained from the patient, usually directly from a wound or incision. The fluid drains through tubes into a receptacle or bag. The tubes may or may not be stitched into the wound or incision. Frequently, a suction reservoir is used as the receptacle. A suction reservoir is an elastic container that receives bodily fluids from a drainage tube. When squeezed a suction reservoir ejects its contents and creates a partial vacuum that tends to draw the fluid to be drained into the suction reservoir. The typical drainage receptacle has a short tab and possibly a spring clip for attaching the receptacle to some support. The receptacle often is clipped or safety pinned to the bandage that closes the wound or incision, to the patient's hospital gown, or to any convenient support.
Doctors and nurses typically attach the receptacle to a place where it can be found and monitored easily. Even a particularly empathetic caregiver has trouble optimizing the location of the receptacle to minimize discomfort for any particular patient. Sometimes additional tape or a bandage is applied to the patient just to provide a support to which the receptacle can be clipped. Some patients are allergic or have sensitivities to various tapes and bandages. However, after having undergone surgery, most patients usually tolerate whatever the healthcare practitioners do with the drainage receptacle. Depending upon the details of the surgery and the patient's recovery therefrom, the drainage receptacle might be used for periods of time ranging from hours to several weeks. The longer the duration of the drainage requirement, the more bothersome the drainage receptacle becomes to the typical patient. Bathing or showering becomes a complicated chore. The increasing trend toward outpatient surgery and early hospital release from inpatient surgery has created the need for a patient-oriented post-surgery drain support system. In addition, for the longer drainage periods, when the patient is trying to recover and assimilate into society, hiding the receptacle from others when in public is unduly difficult. Until the present invention, these problems were unrecognized because the drainage bottle and its support were considered an integral part of the surgery, something that the patient needed to tolerate. To address these problems, the present invention discloses a system of supports for a receptacle that is easily adjustable by the patient.
The need for a patient-friendly device to support a drainage receptacle will be felt more urgently as hospital stays become shorter and the likelihood increases that the patient will be required to continue using the drainage receptacle at home, after being released from the hospital. Home recovery offers the patient both opportunities and challenges to healing. The present invention shifts the process of finding a convenient and comfortable place to mount the receptacle from being a challenge to being an opportunity for added comfort and control of the healing process.